As A level students all over the country celebrated the best-ever set of results today, Britain's brightest student is thought to be an 18-year-old with Asperger's Syndrome who has 10 A grade passes - and a B, which he picked up in biology.

Gifted Jos Gibbons, from Solihull, West Midlands, picked up four A grades plus the B in biology, which added to the six A grades he has already passed.

Jos, who will now study physics at Oxford, described his achievement as "all right."

Across England and Wales the number of students gaining top grade A levels increased again this year, with more than one in four awarded A grades – even higher in Northern Ireland.

The national pass rate rose for the 25 th year in a row with 96.9% graded A to E, up from 96.6% last year – with girls continuing to outperform boys in almost every major subject.

Northern Ireland recorded the best pass rates in the UK with around a third of students getting A grade passes, while Welsh students recorded their best-ever set of results.

As usual results day threw up many fascinating individual stories from around the country. Jos, who attends King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in Kings Heath, took his first GCSE in maths at the age of 11, and achieved his first A Level in the same subject at the age of 13.

After that he gained top scores in A Level further maths, additional maths, physics, philosophy and general studies. Today he got As in chemistry, economics, history and English literature.

His mum says he will probably re-sit the B in biology!

Elaine Grant, 18, from Low Fell, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, scored maximum marks of 300 out of 300 in her physics exam.

Studying at Lord Lawson of Beamish Comprehensive in Birtley, where head teacher David Grigg described her performance as "phenomenal", she scored A-grades in maths, further maths, chemistry and history, as well as physics. She also took A-Level music last year. Elaine will go on to study maths at New Hall College, Cambridge.

In Yorkshire, triplets Antonia, Felicity and Heather Wimbush were celebrating after achieving a complete set of nine A-grade A-levels - all in different subjects.

The girls, who share a room at their home in Wakefield, will now be separating for the first time as they head off to different universities. They were pupils at Wakefield Girls High School.

The oldest successful student had to be 80-year-old Harry Williams of Newport, South Wales. The former mayor he was "delighted" after passing his law A-level at Coleg Gwent where he attended weekly night classes.

Identical twins Emma and Helen Barke, of Colchester, Essex, achieved seven A-grades between them. Emma will train to be a vet at Bristol University, while Helen will study to be an animal psychologist in Cardiff.

But there was joy and consternation for twins Tania and Mahua Bhaduri, who both achieved five A grade A-levels. While Mahua won a place at Imperial College London, Tania will be taking a gap year before reapplying next year because she was not offered a university place.

Their father, Dr Bim Bhaduri, slammed the allocation of university places as “a lottery.”